Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Yesterday was an absolute perfect day for gardening. (Did you expect me to say perfect for something like biking, canoeing, baking, canning instead of gardening at this time of the year?) It got up to temperature of 27 yesterday with clear blue skies.

No rain was forecasted for the entire day. Though I have to tell you we are in a race for the wettest April and May on record. April saw rain 16 days out of the 30 and in May there were 15 out of the 31. April's rainfall total was; 146 mm and May; 90 mm. Water levels are still high in Quebec, New York and Vermont.

Yesterday saw us catching up to the hay we had been growing. You know instead of a lawn. The lawn mowing had gotten so far ahead of us, we were mowing every chance we got, even when the grass was still wet. Just like everyone who lives around us. One good side effect of all the tall grass is; we had an abundance of mulch for the gardens.

We planted plants, organically fertilized, sifted compost, pulled weeds, mulched gardens, raked hay (ha ha grass), dug stones out of the new beds we just recently tilled all of which saw this writer exhausted by 5 PM. (I had gotten up at 5 AM.) Today will be a repeat of yesterday except..... it's going to be 32 degrees!

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Big thanks to L3 for directing me to Weird Nursing Tales where I saw this.

My thoughts after seeing and hearing this;There appears to be a lot of white trash (or as we say here in bilingual Canadian - garbagé blancs) in this video.Sad sign of the times in the US if this is a true representation of the people. Too many of these people are hugely obese.This song will echo and re-echo in your head for hours. So be forewarned and beware!

Friday, May 27, 2011

Oh my my my.I have been unable to get into Blogger for approx. 5 days at least.I thought at first it was just Blogger. Then got to thinking did it have anything to do with my accounts being hacked?I didn't know. And, I didn't know what to do. So I waited. For what? Help? Not anyone here but, me that could help me. Plus, (here comes the excuse) I was busy in the garden. We had two days in a row with sun and no rain. Hallelujah!So yesterday I part way went looking for answers. The weird thing was I could sign into my gmail account but, I couldn't in Blogger (all run by Google, doncha know?). Then I found I couldn't sign into the "help" portion of Blogger. So what to do....?I did all that was suggested on the help portion I could read.I deleted my cache, specific cookies, looked for java script errors, checked internet security settings all to no avail. None of it helped.Okay I thought one last try at this.... I'll try changing my password yet again.Guess what? It worked. Here I am again.I am glad this problem is solved because this also means I can go to my favorite read blogs and post comments again.

Sunday, May 22, 2011

National Maritime Day In 1933, Congress designated May 22 as National Maritime Day. On this day in 1819, the “first successful transoceanic voyage under steam propulsion” began when the steamship S.S. Savannah set sail from Savannah, Georgia. It arrived in Liverpool, England, on June 20. National Maritime Day is an occasion to honor the past and present contributions of the U.S. merchant marine during both peace and war.Swamp Monster DayJohn Mackay and his wife claimed the first sighting of "Nessie," the Loch Ness Monster, on May 22, 1933. Loch Ness is a freshwater lake, located near Inverness, Scotland. Vanilla Pudding DayMay 22nd is Vanilla Pudding Day. Whether you whip it up from scratch, mix up a box of instant pudding or merely open a snack-sized package, May 22nd is the day to indulge in this tasty comfort-food treat. Notable Anniversaries on May 22ndRobert Zimmerman (Bob Dylan) celebrated his Bar Mitzvah on May 22, 1954. The first episode of Mister Roger's Neighborhood starring Fred Rogers, debuted on public television on May 22, 1967. American President Richard Millhouse Nixon officially confessed his role in Watergate cover-up on May 22, 1973. Comedian Johnny Carson made his final appearance as host of The Tonight Show on May 22, 1992. Earlier that evening, on May 22, 1992, the final episode of Newhart was aired, starring Bob Newhart. Born on this Date: Me!

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Yesterday morning as I was replying to a personal email in my inbox.... I noticed the counter on my inbox was growing exponentially. 6, 14, 22, 30! What was happening? I stopped typing my friend's email and went to find out.

In my inbox there were over 30 emails with the heading "undeliverable". I was flummoxed. What were all these emails about? I opened one to find this crazy story;

""I'm writing this with tears in my eyes,sorry I did not inform you about my trip. I actually made a quick travel to London, United Kingdom and unfortunately attacked and mugged at gun point on the way to my hotel,all cash,credit card and cell phone were taken away from me but luckily i still have my passport with me.

I've been to the embassy and the Police here but they're not helping issues at all and my return flight leaves anytime from now but I'm having problems settling the hotel bills and the hotel manager won't let me leave until i settle the bills.

Am freaked out at the moment and i need your help right away. ""Followed by my signature.

At the same time as I was reading this, the phone rang. It was my lawyer's receptionist. He had just gotten this email and was calling to find out if it was true or, a hoax. (I haven't traveled anywhere since April 2009.) My youngest brother who I haven't heard from in 2 years sent an email asking if, I was okay? He also wrote asking if this email true? People were calling me from all over the world due to this hoax.

While reading this on my one email ISP.... I thought.... what about my other email ISPs?In too short of time to matter they were also hacked. Passwords were changed quickly as were the security questions .

I am now in the process of trying to regain my email ISPs.

Gmail (google) was great and I was back to my email program within hours. Only problem I don't use that one much and I have but, a few of my many contacts listed in my mail program. So a big HURRAY for Google!

Hotmail.... grr! I had to answer this big long drawn out questionnaire about my account. Of course I was upset when I did the stupid questionnaire and I guess I didn't answer the questions well enough or, completely enough for or, to their satisfaction. So after having to wait their obligatory 24 hours for a response from them, their determination is; the account is not mine (!!!!!! what!!!!!!) I am appealing their decision that the account is MINE! So here goes more involved paperwork and questionnaires.

Now let's talk about Yahoo. I am locked out of this email account also. Once hacked my password and security questions were changed.... happens really fast I tell you. (Suggestion here.... if this should ever happen to you, get to your accounts tout suit! oh yeah.... and make yourself a really, really, really strong password using letters, numbers and symbols. And, change that password more frequently than every 2 years!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Okay about Yahoo.... you know once you are locked out of your account, there's no way to get back in. You can't fill out anything for Yahoo in their form letters about being hacked. Cause one of the things you have to do to advance thru their pre-ordained menu is to answer for Yahoo the security question. Which the hackers have already changed on you. There's even a button to tell Yahoo this isn't your security question but, you know what? It doesn't matter because it continues to ask for an answer. And, if you can't give it one, you can't advance to the next step. So with the knowledge I can't notify Yahoo this way, I go in search of the "contact us" button. There is NOT ONE! Or, at least one I can find. It's all automated, pre-made questions and answers. No way to inform Yahoo.... no way to get my account back.... or, my contact list, or the folders with information in them.....sigh...... I am sad.

But, most of all I am mad! Why do people do this kind of thing? Is it funny to them? Do they get their jollies disrupting someone's life. And, someone they don't even know? What's up with that?If I could just find this person who did this.... I would.... I would..... Please, go ahead and you tell me how this makes you feel. Post a comment, please.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

This is a post from mid May. It was when Blogger crashed and burned and it never got posted. Just found it in the "edit" posts section. I should take pictures of garden so you can see how far along it's come since this post.

Today I am in one of the five in ground gardens planting seedlings. Seedlings of cabbage, swiss chard and brussel sprouts.

DH is busy putting up the stakes for the fencing around the three new in ground gardens. We have a crazy doggie who likes to run the yard. She thinks the gardens are still part of her running area. Hence the need for the fence.

Going to try and get into the blueberry patch and weed it today. It's chalk full of weeds. And, that's going to take a toll on whomever does it.

So far I can see sprouting from seeds I have planted; radishes, beets, mesclun, arugula, spinach and of course the peas.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Here is a tutorial of a tiered herb garden found on the Katie Brown website which can be found here. She made a few changes by using plastic planters which I think would last longer in the elements.

You can buy the risers and the planters at Home Depot. Paint the risers with white outdoor paint. Instead of attaching the stairs to a fence you can simply leaned it up against the fence. Which seems pretty stable.

Drill holes in each corner of the planter in order to attach it to the risers and three holes in the middle along the bottom for drainage.

Screw or nail each planter into the risers. As seen on Katie Browns tutorial here.

It is recommended to place rocks or broken pottery at the bottom of your planter prior to placing soil inside. This prevents clogging and clumping of the soil which would preventing good drainage.